Rob,
The "height software" I found and edited to suit my needs. I have a very fast and robust Z drive. I like it that way. The motor is running on 60V, a couple of amps with a 1605 ball screw.
The "height software" detects the metal, moves to transfer height, turn on torch, pierces , them move to cut height. This works fine. If I slow down Z full speed, it increases my run time a lot. On short cuts (artwork), I spend more time in that software than running the cutting Gcode.